The bad news was that the No. 21 Bulldogs swept a double-header from FHU, 7-6 and 5-2.

The good news was that, even with the losses, the Lions still qualify for next week's conference tournament following Martin Methodist (Tenn.) College's twinbill sweep of Trevecca Nazarene (Tenn.) University earlier in the day.

The top six teams in the final regular season standings advance to the tournament in Paducah, Ky., beginning on Monday. With TNU's two losses, FHU is guaranteed a spot in the six-team field as the Lions will finish a half-game ahead of Trevecca at worst. Mid-Continent (Ky.) has already been eliminated from post-season contention in the eight-team conference.

In game one, the Bulldogs (36-13, 13-5) scored six of their runs in the fourth inning to turn a 4-0 deficit into a 6-4 lead. The Lions looked to be in good shape early, getting two-run singles from Evan Mansell in the first and Brian Bullard in the third. But Union finally got to FHU starter Charlie Overturf in the fourth inning after Overturf had battled around five walks in the first three innings by getting a pair of double play grounders.

The sophomore left-hander looked to be on his way to another scoreless inning in the fourth, having two outs and the bases empty, before the Bulldogs went on a tear. After Union drew a walk and knocked three straight singles, Lion second baseman Josh Reynolds' wild throw to first with the bases loaded allowed two runs to score and ended Overturf's day.

Trae Luttrell entered in relief and gave up a three-run home run to the first batter he saw, Corey Rudolph, before getting the final out of the inning.

FHU (30-21, 9-11) fought its way back, getting an RBI double from Mansell in the fifth to pull within one run and later tying the game in the sixth when Chris White scored on a balk. Luttrell (3-5), meanwhile, held Union scoreless in those innings to allow the Lions to get back into the game.

He wouldn't be as fortunate in the seventh, however, giving up a double and a single to start the inning to set up the winning run driven in on a sacrifice fly by Alex Turner.

Union pitcher Jeremey Stack dominated in game two, holding the Lions to one run on six hits in six innings of work while striking out six FHU hitters along the way as the Bulldogs finished the sweep with a 5-2 win.

A pair of two-run innings in the fourth and fifth proved to be the difference for Union, who only managed six hits themselves in the game but benefitted from four walks and two FHU errors. Gage Franklin (4-4) took the loss after giving up three runs, two earned, in four innings of work. Amos Bingham pitched the final two innings, giving up a two-run home run in the fifth.

The Lions scored in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Josh Reynolds, and added their final run in the seventh on Leamond Arthur's run-scoring double.

The three-game series concludes tomorrow with a single nine-inning game at 4:00 PM.